Young Anna
by Fayth Grimmly
Summary: One-shots on Natasha Romanov and Steve Roger's daughter (and while Natasha was pregnant with her). This could be read alone but to fully understand most of it please read the main story "Anna's Life" [Sorry if the summary sucks it was the only way I could think to phrase it.]
1. The Nose Cannoo Thing

**Hey guys! This story is going to be a series of one-shot sort of things revolving around Anna's childhood and while Natasha was pregnant with her. This **_**could **_**be read alone but to fully understand most of it please read the main story "Anna's Life".**

"I don't like it. It's itchy…" 10 year old Anna complained.

"It's necessary. Besides it's more practical than the big oxygen mask." Natasha said sitting next to Anna. "You can eat easier and talk better and- Anna stop messing with it."

"I can't help it. It tickles." She scrunched up her nose in annoyance.

"You'll get used to it." Bruce fixed the oxygen tube to a small tank fit inside a backpack. "You can to carry this around, much more portable." Anna slid the bag over her shoulders and stood up facing a mirror.

"The nosel can… canoo-"

"Nasal cannula."

"The nasal cannula looks stupid. I hate this." The elevator dinged and Clint stepped out fully dressed in gym clothes, sweating and panting from a recent workout. Anna stomped past him and into the elevator. "JARVIS, my floor… please." She said aggravated.

"What's wrong with her?" Clint asked taking a swig of his water bottle.

"She hates the oxygen tube. Now she's going to sulk for days." Natasha sighed with frustration. Clint thought for a minute.

"I'll be right back." He walked down the hall and up the stairs

* * *

"Scoot." Anna reluctantly obeyed and Clint sat down next to her on the edge of her bed. "You see this?" He asked her pointing up to the side his head.

"Your ear?"

"No, what's inside my ear." Anna squinted; she noticed a small piece of plastic almost the color of Clint's skin

"What's that?"

"I'll show you." He reached into his ears and pulled one of the devices out of each ear. "I'M ACTUALLY 80% DEAF." He said loudly. Anna giggled making Clint smile. "I CAN'T HEAR VERY WELL WITHOUT THESE LITTLE PIECES OF PLASTIC."

"You sound funny." She laughed

"I KNOW." He put the hearing aids back into his ears laughing as well. "I where these so I can hear. And so I don't 'sound funny.'"

"…Just like I have to wear the noseal cann..nasal canoo… this thing to breath?" Clint nodded.

"And guess what? I didn't like my hearing aids when I got them. I thought people would make fun of me. No one did, and I've gotten used to 'em, they're a part of me now. And uh, I don't know if you noticed, but I'm still pretty awesome." Anna laughed. Clint grinned when he saw her smile, it was usually hidden by a fogged up oxygen mask.

"I guess nose cannooa thing is alright." She said smiling. Clint heard the apartment's front door open and close, along with two sets of footsteps.

"Hey!" Clint called out "Guess who thinks the nasal cannula is 'alright'." Steve and Natasha walked into Anna's room with smiles from ear to ear.

* * *

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	2. Figure It Out

Steve tried to put up some sort of brave face whenever Anna had an… episode. He clenched his fists as she shook on the medical bed, her face changing from wide pain filled eyes to contorted agonizing expressions. Years later he'd eventually ask her what these 'Serum Attacks' felt like.

"It feels like I'm on fire, but with thousands of little needles poking into me. I can breathe just barely, but never ever a full enough breath... It's just… awful."

Whenever an attack ended she usually liked to sleep, for as much as a whole day depending on the severity of an attack. He watched Anna's 5 year old chest rise and fall with each breath, feeling thankful for every single one. The breathing mask securely fashioned onto her face. He was amazed that the small cup of plastic kept her breathing everyday.

She was sound asleep now, nothing to bother her. It surprised him how such a small child could feel so much pain, then be fine almost immediately afterword.

"Steve?" Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder, he hadn't noticed her come in. "Hey, she's going to be alright-"

"Alright? You call this alright?" He marched into the hall, Natasha following behind him. "Being 'healthy' again only for her to just have another attack she may or may not get through."

"Steve…" Natasha placed a hand to his cheek, a glisten of a tear welled up in the corner of one of her eyes. She blinked it away. Steve wrapped his arms around Natahsa. "We're going to figure this out. We did when I got pregnant, when I had her. We figure it out. We always do." She whispered into his ear.

"We always do…" He kissed her softly still holding her close to him.

"Daddy? Mama?" A young girl's croaking and gravelly voice called out. Steve smiled; he knew what he always did. That they'd figure it out.

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	3. Thanksgiving

**Anna's Age: 10**

**Please leave me ****PROMPTS ****with PM or in a review :)**

**Okay, I both like and hate this one-shot at the same time. Blech, let me know if it's OOC. **

* * *

"Dad is it dinner time _now_?" Anna asked for what felt like the millionth time. Steve rolled his eyes.

"No not yet. Besides, you _just _had lunch." Anna leaned her crutches against the counter and sat down 'criss-cross-applesause' in front of the oven. She put her hands against the little window and stared at the Turkey inside.

"I can't help it. It just looks so _good._" She bounced up and down on the floor.

"I do not understand." Thor said watching Clint chop carrots "What is this giving of thanks?"

"Why do you dissect every English phrase?" Tony said annoyed "It's Thanksgiving not giving of thanks. And it celebrates when the British colonists came to America. You remember it don't you capsicle?"

"Shut up Stark, I'm only 109."

"Yeah, _only_." Natasha chuckled. "And that's _not_ what Thanksgiving celebrates. It's just an excuse for Americans to eat gluttonous amounts of Turkey and drink a lot… Not saying I'm against it, turkey and beer? Sign me up anyday."

"Bruce what's gluttonous mean?" Anna asked finally turning her attention away from the turkey.

"It means to be really self-oriented in terms of consumption." He answered seemingly forgetting he was talking to an 11 year old.

"Oh. Pepper what's 'self-oriented in terms of consumption' mean?"

"He's trying to say it means greedy." The redhead answered stirring some more salt into the mashed potatoes. "Who has the pepper?"

"That would be me." Clint held the shaker up. He smirked handing it to her "Here's the pepper Pepper."

"You're hilarious."

* * *

"Is it ready _now?_"

"No Anna."

* * *

"How about now?"

"_No _Anna."

* * *

"What about _now?"_

"NO ANNA." The team relied in unison.

"Sorry…" Clint watched her for a minute.

"Hey Anna." He said kneeling down next to her. "I may or may not have a certain 10 and a half year old's favorite new movie downloaded on my phone." He said holding his cellphone out to her. Her eyes lit up when she saw the title.

"It's not even out of theaters yet!" He winked at her holding a finger to his lips. She grabbed his phone hurrying out of Tony and Pepper's kitchen and into their living room as fast as her legs/crutches would take her.

"Any idea why she's so excited for Thanksgiving?" Clint asked. Natasha and Steve both shrugged their shoulders.

"It is… her first big holiday since she got the nasal cannula." Steve said looking at the door, still swinging from Anna's exit.

"That makes sense I guess." Tony said thinking.

"THANKS CLINT!" They heard her call from the other room. They all smiled at her little laugh a few moments later.

* * *

"This. Is. So. _Good._" Bruce said still chewing his bite of Turkey.

"My god it's _orgasmic._" Tony added.

"Ahem, 10 year old." Natasha motioned toward Anna with her fork.

"Tem an a haff." Anna reminded, her mouth full of turkey and mashed potatoes. Thor bit into one of the Turkey legs.

"Indeed, this is delicious. However it doesn't begin to compare to a Víðópnir. I'll have to bring some to the next Giving of Thanks."

"Thor, it's not… you know what never mind." Tony said before taking a swig of beer.

"Hey Dad. Did they celebrate Thanksgiving when you were in the army?" Anna asked, catching the attention of the rest of the table.

"Did we celebrate in World War II? Yeah actually, we did. I remember they decorated this mess hall, and we had all the classic thanksgiving foods. Turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, apple pies. The works." He continued his story, smiling brightly. The way he always did when recalling a happy memory from back then. "Bucky and I… we sat at the end of one of the tables with the Howling commandoes. We ate and told stories about our families. A little later Howard joined us and we convinced Peggy to come as well. She uh… she said it was an 'American thing' that she was intruding. But she came and we all just ate and had fun. Howard said the food wasn't that good, but as a poor kid from Brooklyn, man… it was like the food of the gods to me." The Avengers smiled at their Captain as his story ended.

They continued to go around the table, each [except for Thor] told a story of a past Thanksgiving. Clint talked about the time he and his brother spent Thanksgiving in an ice cream shop, feasting on Sundays all day.

Tony's story was surprisingly _not _a story about a wild night of drinking, but sitting in his lab with a Turkey sandwich the night he perfected the Iron Man suit's repulsor beams.

Bruce's story was the saddest, it being one of the last happy memories he had with Betty. Although it was pretty cute as well. Somehow he managed to forget to invite the friends they had planned to have over so they had to eat all of the food between the two of them.

And Natasha's story was her first Thanksgiving, about 5 months after she joined SHIELD. She and Clint were on a stake out when he realized the day, so the two of them sat in the pouring rain eating turkey meat out of a can.

By the time Natasha's story was over Anna had completely fallen asleep at the table. "I guess they were boring her. I'll put her to bed and head back up." Steve said quietly as he picked her up. "Nat will you grab her crutches?"

* * *

Steve tucked Anna into bed and kissed her forehead lightly. "'Night Anna." He quietly walked out of her room to rejoin his friends upstairs when he heard her shift in bed.

"Dad…" She sat up a bit, rubbing her eyes.

"It's late Anna, you should go back to sleep." He said walking back towards her.

"Is it still Thanksgiving?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"For about another 10 minutes yes, which is why you need to go to sleep."

"What are you thankful for?" Steve looked at her as he knelt down beside her bed.

"Well, I'm thankful for a lot of things I guess… You and your mom count as one thing-"

"Lame." Steve chuckled

"Alright… I'm thankful for baseball games, I'm thankful for… warm days… the way the sunrise looks from the living room window. I'm thankful for, having such great friends. Things like that I guess." Anna thought about her father's list, before saying her own.

"I'm thankful for… chocolate, aaaaand good movies. I'm also thankful for stuff like all of you guys being safe and okay."

"And you said mine was lame."

"Hey…"

"Sorry" He said, the two laughing a bit.

"I'm thankful for big comfy beds… Oh, and working oxygen machines."

"I'm thankful for that too." _Bong._ The large grandfather clock in the living room went off 12 times. "Alright kid, thanksgiving's over, no more thankfuls. Get some rest alright?" He kissed her forehead and tucked her into bed a little bit more.

"Night Dad." She whispered, her eyes growing heavier.

"Night Anna."

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**a) Hey guys! I don't think I said this in earlier chapters but ****I AM TAKING PROMPTS****. Anything (of any genre) from while Natasha's pregnant to Anna age 15. **

**b) Also, guess who broke her arm today... great. Typing isn't the easiest but I'm still going to try and update quickly**

**PLEASE LEAVE ME REVIEWS! I love to know what you think :)**


	4. MIA

**This chapter is based on Ciara's review.**

**Since there is no James Rogers in this story but I like the prompt idea I'm changing it a little bit. Instead of James its Natasha who's away on the mission and it's up to Steve to comfort Anna.**

**Anna's Age: 7**

* * *

"Hi Daddy." Anna called out.

"Morning Sweetie." Steve said closing the bedroom door behind him. He made a cup of coffee before joining Anna on the couch. "What are we watching?"

"It's called Rocco the Clown. It's _super _funny."

"I bet it is." He said taking a sip of coffee. He had agonized through another hour of Saturday morning cartoons when Anna turned to him.

"Daddy, how long until Mama's home?" He pulled out his phone and showed her the calendar.

"Well, it's Saturday today and your Mama's coming back from her mission on Monday. So that means…"

"Only two more days!" She said smiling brightly behind her oxygen mask.

"That's right!"

"I can't wait! I made her a present for when she gets back!" She pointed towards her bedroom. Steve's eyebrows furrowed at the sight of art supplies scattered from one corner of the room to the other.

"I'm sure she'll love it. Hey, here's an idea. How about you put all of your crayons and toys away so your room'll be nice and clean when she comes home?"

"Okay!" Steve passed Anna her crutches and watched her scurry into her room. His face fell from a smile to a worried expression. He pulled out his phone and selected the most recent call, tapping his foot as it dialed.

"Agent Hill."

"Maria, It's Steve-"

"She's still missing Steve."

"…Nothing's changed?"

"Last time we heard from her was 3 days ago. I'm sorry, I'll keep you updated don't worry."

"I don't know how I can't."

* * *

Two days passed quickly with still no word from anyone on Natasha's location. As the sun set on Monday Steve sat in the old rocking chair in Anna's room, wondering what he would tell Anna.

"Mama!" Anna called out as she came into the apartment "Mama? Daddy where's Mama?" She asked walking into her room.

"She's… she has a few more things to do on her mission."

"What kinds of things?"

"Well… There's a bad guy that's a little harder to beat than Director Fury thought. But she's working real hard to get back to us."

"Okay!" Steve pulled Anna into his lap. She leaned against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "How much longer Daddy?"

"A few more days." He said, lightly rocking the chair back and forth.

"Is she okay?" His heart dropped, he didn't know.

"Of course she is."

* * *

3 days passed agonizingly slowly. "Steve, a STRIKE team was sent to Natasha's last location…" Steve's heart thudded in his chest, he tightened his grip on phone. "She wasn't there, and… there were traces of blood in the hotel room she was stationed in." He could tell Clint was trying to keep a cool collected composure as he delivered the news.

"Is it her blood?" Steve asked, his voice barely above a whisper

"Not sure, they're sending it to the lab to have it checked. Even if it isn't, it can still help us find her. We can find out who was there, maybe leading us to a location. I'll keep you posted."

"Thanks Clint. I'll talk to you la-"

"How's Anna handling all this?" Steve shifted his feet awkwardly.

"She doesn't know, just thinks Nat's mission is taking 'a little bit longer'."

"When are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know. Depends on what the results of that blood test."

"Daddy?" Anna's voice called from the living room.

"I gotta go, keep me posted on the test results." Steve hung up the phone quickly as he walked towards the couch. "

"Is Mama coming home today?" She asked hopefully.

"Sorry sweetie… Your Mom's going to have to be gone just a little bit longer." Anna frowned.

"Why?"

"I told you, her mission's going to take a little bit longer-"

"You said that 3 days ago!"

"I'm sorry Anna."

"I miss Mama…"

"I do too."

"…Is she okay?" Steve's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to read a text from Clint.

_It's her blood._

"Of course she is."

* * *

Steve stared at his alarm clock, _Friday 11:56 pm. _He couldn't sleep, worried thoughts about Natasha plagued his mind. His mind quickly jumped to thoughts of Anna when he heard her scream out.

"Anna!" He jumped out of bed and ran into her room to find her in bed curled up in a little ball.

"Anna, honey what's wrong?" He asked kneeling down beside her bed.

"I… I had a bad dream." She said shaking.

"What was it about?"

"I was walking around, and there were all these bugs! Creepy crawly bugs with sharp fangs and fire and they poked me and it hurt a lot and-"

"It's okay, the nightmare's over now." He wrapped her in his arms.

"Mama's usually the one that makes me feel better when I have a bad dream…" She said against his chest. "Is she coming home yet?" Steve sighed.

"Not yet…" She pushed Steve away angrily.

"Don't hug me I'm mad at you. I'm mad her too."

"Don't be mad at her. Why are you mad at your Mama?"

"Because she isn't here… Daddy? She's okay… right?"

"Of course she's okay."

* * *

More and more days passed. Unknown to Steve, Clint and Pepper had started to make arrangements for a funeral, if it was deemed necessary. 3 more Mondays had passed by when Natasha Romanov was officially pronounced MIA and possibly KIA. Steve didn't want to think about the second part.

He walked into the Romanov-Rogers floor on Avenger's tower, thinking of what he was going tell Anna next time she wanted Natasha. But he walked into an empty apartment. "Anna?" He wandered around, her room, his room, the study; he finally found her sitting on the floor on the balcony. She sniffled when he approached her.

"…She's not okay is she?" Anna said, her voice shaking. Steve's already damaged heart seemed to break into 1000 pieces, he swallowed hard.

"No Anna… she's not." She let out a small sigh filled with agony. Her cheeks stained with tears. He wearily sat down next to her, not knowing what to say next.

"Is she ever coming home?" There was a long silence, Anna felt that answered her question enough. But she still wanted an answer.

"…I don't know." Anna kicked one of her crutches angrily.

"I… I always thought you guys would always come home safe… That you were invincible… I guess not." She wiped her face with her sleeve. "I miss her Daddy… I just want her home with you and me. I want her to read me bedtime stories… a- a- and tell me fun stories about her missions a- a- and hug me and make me sandwiches. I even want her to yell at me! I- I- I just miss her Daddy!" She held onto him, her cries turning into sobs.

"I know… I do too." Steve, who'd been Anna's rock for 3 weeks and 4 days, let a single tear stream down his face.

* * *

Natasha's stomach growled, she wondered how long it had been since she'd eaten. Two, three days? Her ankle hurt like hell, she knew it had to be broken; the leather straps keeping her bound to the chair weren't helping either. She shivered at the thought of the torture she'd endured. The burns and bruises on her arms and stomach would take a few weeks to heal, if she managed to get out that is. She slowly closed her eyes, hoping to escape into the safety of sleep.

Her eyes shot back open at the sound of a man's voice. Not the cold, cruel voices of her tortures, but a familiar voice. Filled with concern and… relief?

"Nat? Can you hear me?" Her blurry vision focused on a red, white and blue uniform, and a pair of baby blue eyes.

"Oh my god." She let out a sigh of relief and surprise. Steve smiled widely as he undid the leather straps binding her arms and legs. She heard the familiar sound of Tony's rockets and the Hulk's roar from outside, followed by thunder and what sounded like Clint and Maria Hill yelling.

Steve ran a hand though Natasha's hair before kissing her soundly. "Natasha Romanov." He said, helping her to her feet and wrapping one arm around her waist, her other around his shoulders. "I've got to get you out of here. There's a 7 year old girl who's _dying _to see you."

* * *

Natasha walked down the jet's ramp and onto the runway. She was covered in dirt and bruises, her arm was still a little sore, her left ankle was ace wrapped and she wasn't supposed to do any manual labor for 5 weeks. "_Yeah, I've got a 7 year old. We'll see how long that lasts._"

Natasha's smile grew several sizes when she saw that 7 year old standing on the runway. "Mama!" Anna yelled smiling. Anna silently cursed her stupid legs from keeping her from running into Natasha's arms. But Natasha walked a fast as her ace-wrapped ankle would take her. She sank to her knees and pulled Anna into a hug.

"I missed you so much." She said tightening her hold on Anna, who was squeezing her as hard as her little arms would allow. When she tried to let go Anna wrapped her arms around Natasha's shoulders more, so the spy gave up and pushed her sore muscles to pick up her small daughter.

"What no hug for me?" Tony joked; Natasha hadn't even noticed her there. '_Somebody had to be with Anna I guess.'_

"Stark, the last time I hugged you the world nearly ended. And whilst completely unrelated I'd rather not risk it." Tony laughed

"I get to hug her now not you!" Anna pressed a kiss to Natasha's cheek.

"I missed you Anna." She squeezed her tightly.

"I missed you too." Anna said smiling. "I'm glad you're okay."

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	5. Mother-Daughter Time

**This chapter is based on red lighting's prompt. Thanks! :)**

**Please leave me prompts in the reviews below or through a PM! I'm using almost all of them and the more detailed the better!**

* * *

**Anna's Age: 7 months old**

* * *

It was Steve's first long mission since Natasha and Anna had been rescued from the Red Room. He was to be in Eastern Europe with Clint and Maria for 3 weeks, minimal contact. Natasha sighed, she missed going on missions.

_"Can't I just go with them for a few days? Just a stake-out, or one fight. Then I'll be back here in no time." She practically begged._

_ "Agent Romanov." Director Fury said sternly. "You were MIA for 6 months, I'm net sending you out right away-"_

_ "Sir, it's been almost 5 months since I was rescued!"_

_ "Romanov, I'm not risking one of my top agents so quickly. Barton, Hill and Rogers can handle this on their own." Fury watched her for a moment, his demeanor softened. "Natasha, go home. Take care of that little baby girl of yours. You'll regret missing times like this when she's older."_

Natasha watched Anna play with one of her baby toys, she smiled. "Hey Little Elephant." She said sitting on the floor next to her daughter. The nickname "Little Elephant" was coined after Steve and Natasha noticed Anna's oxygen mask stuck out similarly to an elephant's trunk.

Anna looked up at Natasha and smiled, giggling. She lifted one of her stuffed animals high above her head and tossed it across the room, Natasha watched it roll underneath the couch. Anna frowned.

"Where'd it go?" Natasha asked smiling "Where'd your doggy go?" Anna continued to frown at her mother. She let out an annoyed cry and scrunched her nose. "Oh Anna!". After 5 months of taking care of Anna, she was quick to no when the young girl was upset. She had the girl pick up in her arms before the first tears even fell. "Shhhhh, it's okay." She stood up and began bobbing her daughter up and down in her arms. "Hey, it's okay. Anna," Natasha continued to comfort her daughter, hoping she'd stop crying soon.

* * *

Much to Natasha's typical luck, Anna did _not _stop crying. For _four_. And a _half_. _Hours_.

Finally when Anna's wails came to an end it was time for dinner. Natasha put Anna in her high chair and placed a bottle of formula on the table in front of her daughter. She grabbed a jar of mashed banana baby food out of the cabinet.

"Alright, so far you've hated peas, carrots, ham, been horribly allergic to corn and full on refused pears. I swear if you reject this I'm emptying my pistol magazines into that wall." She scooped a baby spoon full of the food and held it out to Anna. The baby eyed it before slowly opening her small mouth. Natasha ever so carefully guided the spoon towards her daughter and smiled widely when Anna's mouth closed around the spoon. She swallowed, a good sign, before patting her hands on the table of the high chair, smiling. Natasha laughed, smiling. "I _really _hope that means you like it." She did. Anna ended up eating the rest of the food Natasha gave her, hardly spitting any of it out. Natasha excitingly grabbed for her phone, entering the number quickly.

"Captain Rogers."

"I did it Steve!" Natasha said, barely containing her excitement.

"Who is- wait… Nat is this you?"

"No Rogers, it's Director Fury. I need you to do more bullshit for me even though I'm perfectly capable of doing it myself or not at all."

"Hey Nat." Steve said laughing under his breath.

"Where are you guys?"

"A little hotel in Moldova. Clint and Maria are posing as a couple on vacations. They're watching a possible terrorist treat in some café down the street. I'm in the hotel room we've holed ourselves up in processing a report. Glad you called; I'm bored out of my mind."

"Well I'm taking care of a 7 month old on my own. I swear to god, you're not allowed to die until she's at least old enough for pre-school. I can't handle full time single parenting." She joked.

"Okay, no dying until she's in pre-school. Got it. What did you 'do' by the way?"

"Oh yeah! I found a baby food she likes!" She watched Anna drink some formula from her bottle.

"Seriously? That's great!" After _many _stressful attempts at getting Anna to eat, this was a total relief. She heard him opening what sounded like curtains, the close them again. "Hey Nat I gotta go, I can see Clint and Maria are headed back… he's in pretty bad shape."

"Is he-" Steve hung up. Natasha sighed and turned back towards Anna. "Anna?!" In a matter of seconds the baby had managed to get formula _all over herself._ She pulled her messy daughter out of the highchair and kissed her pudgy formula covered cheek. "You silly girl." She said, carrying her off towards the bathroom.

* * *

Natasha had learned from her mistakes in the past. Baths with Anna usually ended with half of the water in the tub, and half of in all over Natasha. She took of Anna's baby clothes and put her daughter into her bath seat. Natasha checked the temperature of the water for the 100000th time before she began to run baby shampoo through Anna's blonde hair. Anna's hands shot up and met Natasha's in a mess of hair and soapy suds. "What're you doing?" Natasha asked sweetly. Anna flicked her soap covered hands towards Natasha, splattering her face in soap. "Ah. That's what you're doing…"

After Natasha was finished washing Anna up she watched her daughter play with a few bath toys. The young girl reached forwards and grabbed some rainbow colored foam letters. She slapped them against the wall and turned towards her mother smiling, as if waiting for approval.

Natasha smiled and ruffled her daughter's wet hair. Anna grabbed the letters of the wall and held them out to Natasha, who smiled and said "No thank you." Anna was clearly not in the mood for that, threw the letters right at Natasha, getting her covered in soap and water.

"Great… now I need a bath."

* * *

**3 Weeks Later**

Steve quietly dropped his shield next the front door, along with his bag and jacket. It was late, two, three AM? He poured himself a glass of water and gently opened the door to him and Natasha's bedroom. She was nowhere to be seen, the bed was still made. He frowned. Peaking his head into Anna's nursery just down the hall he smiled. Natasha was curled up in the rocking chair, a children's book loosely held in her hands. Anna lay sleeping soundly in her crib. Steve crept towards the two. He gently leaned into the crib and laid a soft kiss to Anna's forehead. Then, as if defusing a bomb, he slowly took the book from Natasha's hands and placed it on the floor, not wanting to wake her. He gingerly slid one arm underneath the spy's legs, the other around her shoulders.

"Goodnight Anna." He whispered on his way out of the nursery, as he carried a sleeping Natasha 'bridal style' into their bedroom.

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	6. Museums and Bullies Part 1

**This one-shot is based on Kangaroopaws' prompt.**

**This is going to be a part one pairing with another one-shot I've been planning on writing. :)**

**Anna's Age: 12**

* * *

Anna loved museums. Steve, Natasha and Anna (Sometimes accompanied by other Avengers) would go Washington DC to visit friends and what not. Anna would always _beg _to go the Smithsonian, which they always did. Her favorite exhibit was the Captain America exhibit (naturally). Finally it was time for another visit, but it wasn't going how Anna wanted it to.

"But we always go to the museum!" Anna complained, sitting on her parent's bed. Steve still had his old DC apartment for whenever he or Natasha needed to be in the capitol.

"No dice kid, your mom's got a meeting with Agent Hill and I really want to see Peggy before we go. I haven't gotten to see her in person since you were 10."

"But it's our last day! What if I go with you to see Peggy, then we go." Steve shook his head. He wished Anna could meet Peggy, but new people tended to trigger her Alzheimer's, making his visits difficult.

The 'tween' crossed her arms angrily and in a huff stomped out of the room.

Steve rolled his eyes before getting an idea. He grabbed his phone and called Tony.

"Capsicle! How's our nation's capital?"

"The same as always Tony, large and… capitol like... What are you doing?"

"Banner and I were just going to go catch a movie, why?"

"You still got that private jet?"

"Yeah… why?"

"I need a favor."

* * *

"Where to first kid?" Tony asked looking down the DC mall.

"Hmm… How about… Air and Space?" Anna pointed towards the large glass building.

"Alright, let's go." Anna led the way towards the building, Bruce and Tony following behind her. It didn't take long to notice the way other people reacted to Anna. She couldn't go unnoticed the same way Tony and Bruce could, not when the first things you see are forearm crutches and a nasal cannula.

Anna continued along, pretending not to notice the people staring and pointing. When they got into the museum Anna immediately headed straight for the outer space exibit.

"Wouldn't space be cool Bruce? I could float around and actually pick things up super easily and I wouldn't have to wear the cannula because everybody's got space suits!" Bruce smiled. The last part wasn't exactly correct, but her passion for space was something Bruce had always found cute.

* * *

Anna looked up at the WW2 fighter plane hanging from the ceiling.

"I wonder if that thing still works…"

"Tony, no." Bruce said rolling his eyes. Anna turned, walking away from the men and looking around at the rest of the exhibits. She pulled her hood up as she walked into the Captain America exhibit. No one outside of the Avengers and SHIELD knew about Anna for privacy reasons and SHIELD policy. To everyone at school she was Annalise Rushman, the daughter of two civil lawyers. But that didn't mean people didn't notice her likeness to the spy and soldier. Especially in a massive exhibit dedicated to one of them.

She read all about the Howling Commandos, Steve's childhood years with Bucky and started to walk towards the "Before and After" display.

She'd noticed everyone watching her, talking about her. Anna constantly heard the same things they were saying…

"The poor dear…"

"What do you think's wrong with her?"

"Ew… look at that thing in her nose!"

Anna leaned against the railing, looking the life sized photo of her father's pre-serum body. She was about eyelevel with it. Looking into her father's eyes she wondered if he'd heard the same things and gotten the same stares when he was young…

"Pretty crazy huh?" A voice beside her said. Anna turned to see a girl looking up at her. She couldn't be a more that 2 years younger than Anna, 9 or 10 maybe.

"What?"

"Pretty crazy that he was all tiny and now… you know." Anna laughed as the girl made exaggerated flexing motions with her arms.

"Yeah. It's pretty crazy." The girl stuck her hand out.

"I'm Jenny." Anna smiled

"I'm Anna…lise! Annalise… That's… me."

"Pretty name."

"Thanks." Anna reached her hand out to shake Jenny's when a woman's voice grabbed their attention.

"Jenny!" The girls hands dropped as they turned towards a middle aged woman walked towards them. She wrapped her arm protectively around Jenny. "Jenny sweetie, let's go find Dad in the Apollo exhibit."

"But Mom-"

"Come on Jenny." Anna watched them walk away with a raised eyebrow.

"I was talking to somebody mom, she was real nic-"

"Jenny, she is obviously very sick." Anna's eyebrows furrowed.

"Sick?"

"Yes, didn't you see the tubes in her nose? She could have gotten you sick too. I don't want you to get sick." Jenny looked back at Anna, the look in her eyes broke the 12 year old's heart. Jenny looked at her like she was some sort of monster, meant to be feared.

Anna bowed her head, turning slowly back towards the display. Looking up she saw what she already knew, _everyone _was staring at her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up quickly, it was Bruce..

"She's person not an exhibit." Tony announced frowning. "Move along." The people dispersed, pretending they hadn't just been watching Anna like she was one of those rare animals in the zoo.

"Thanks." Anna said quietly. Bruce wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You wanna go check out the Museum of Science?" She nodded happily.

* * *

"No way…" Anna's eyes widened.

"What?" Tony asked, seeing Anna's face. She pointed towards the blonde across the room. Tony raised an eyebrow when he saw a rather husky girl almost a head taller than Anna leaning against the wall.

"That's Olivia Wilbers. She goes to my school." Tony's eyebrows furrowed. He remembered hearing that name every so often… Usually on the days Anna came home with a black eye…

"What's she doing in DC?" Bruce asked, watching Olivia play with one of her rings.

"No idea…" Anna shifted nervously on her crutches. It wasn't going to be easy to go by without Olivia noticing her.

"Don't worry about it kid." Tony said motioning her towards one of the rooms _away _from the bully. "Just stick with us, it'll be fine."

* * *

Anna looked around nervously. Somehow she, Bruce and Tony had all gotten separated in the crowd. She was standing in a corner next to the water fountains, trying to spot the billionaire and scientist.

"I can't believe it." A familiar voice said, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She turned slowly to see Olivia looming over her. "Hi _Rexie._" Anna's stomach flipped.

"Hey Olivia. What brings you to DC?"

"My stupid stepmom dragged me out here. So _Rexie"_ She stepped towards Anna, who backed up against the wall. "Are you here by yourself? I doubt the doctors let you walk around alone. The wind might pick you up and you'd just-" Olivia grabbed Anna's crutches, dropping them just behind her. "Fly away."

"I don't have doctors… I've told you before I'm not Anorex-"

"But you've got the name for it '_Anna'_." Olivia leaned foreward, her face just inches from Anna's.

"It's _Anna_. Like the Disney princess. Now leave me al-"

"Disney princess? What are you 5?" The bully mocked. Anna tried to step forward, to walk around the girl. But Olivia grabbed her arm, twisting it back and slammed her into the wall. This caught the attention of the crowd, who turned towards the girls. Anna heard a few gasps as she scrambled to put her nasal cannula back into place.

"Do you w_ant _me to hurt you again? Are you really _that _stupid Rexie?"

"Hey!" Anna stood up on shaking legs, putting her weight against the wall. She turned to see Tony and Bruce, arms crossed.

"How's it goin?" Tony smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Alright… What do you-"

"What're you doing?"

"Nothin."

"Ah, 'nothin'… Good. Please leave her alone."

"What?"

"I said leave her alone."

"You can't-"

"You heard him." Bruce stepped forward, glaring Olivia down. "Leave. Her. Alone." Olivia swallowed nervously.

"What're you two gonna do if I don't?" Olivia's eyebrow's raised as a low grumble echoed in the room. She watched in horror as Bruce's skin ever so slowly faded into a greenish color. Gasping she ran away, tripping in the process before bolting out the door. Bruce laughed a little as his skin quickly faded back to its normal color. The crowd around them applauded loudly for the 'heroes' that had saved the 'poor girl'. Anna laughed easily.

"Thank you." She said, her voice barely louder than the cheering. Bruce smiled handing Anna her crutches and the three hurried out of the museum, knowing it wouldn't be long until they were fully recognized.

* * *

**Well. I tried. I've actually been working on this for about a month, but I kept getting stuck with writer's block and leaving it alone. **

**PLEASE LEAVE ME REVIEWS AND PROMPTS! I love to know what you think :)**


	7. Take Care of Myself

**This chapter is based on Bluewolf0151's prompt (Thanks!)**

* * *

**Anna's Age: 9**

* * *

"Where do you think you're going?" Tony asked raising an eyebrow.

"Nowhere…" Anna lied

"Really?" Tony crossed the room, standing in between Anna and the Tower's front door. "Because it looks to me like you were trying to leave the tower alone." He smirked down at her, crossing his arms. Anna sighed, fogging up her oxygen mask.

"I'm 9 now Tony! The other kids at my school go out by themselves!" She wined.

"The other kids don't wear oxygen masks and walk with crutches." He put an arm around her, leaned Anna back into the elevator. "Neither are they told specifically not to leave home without somebody with them."

"I'm not a little kid anymore." Anna glowered up at him; unfortunately she didn't look all that threatening.

"I know. But you still have to follow the rules."

"That's funny coming from _you_." She stormed off as soon as the elevator doors opened.

* * *

"See you tonight Anna!" Steve called to the girl as he walked into the elevator. All of the Avengers were either on a mission or at SHIELD headquarters.

"Looks like it's just you and me today." Pepper said smiling as she sat down on the couch beside the young girl.

"Yep… Don't you have to go to work?"

"Not today, I decided to take the day of to relax."

"Oh. That's good…" Anna ran her hand through her curly locks. "Do you wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure!" Pepper crossed the room, looking around the family's movie shelf. "How about… The Little Mermaid?" Anna shook her head, she'd seen that one 'a quadrillion' times. "Tarzan? Frozen?" Both were rejected. "Oh! How about Up?" Anna smiled, nodding. "Alrighty, Up it is."

* * *

"Can balloons _really_ pick up hous-" Anna turned towards Pepper, and frowned when she realized the woman was fast asleep. "I'll just ask Bruce later." Anna continued to watch the movie until Pepper's phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was a text from Steve.

_"__Hey Pepper. I forgot a really important file back at the tower. Any way you and Anna could bring it down here? I've got a meeting with Fury in 2 hours!"_

Anna turned to wake the sleeping redhead up, but quickly decided against it. Looking around the apartment she saw a large black folder sitting on the kitchen counter. Grabbing her crutches she walked over to it.

_'__This'll show them I can take care of myself.' _She thought putting the folder into her backpack. It barely fit with the oxygen tank taking up most of the room. She carefully laid a blanket across Pepper's lap and lifted up her oxygen mask to gently kiss Pepper's forehead. Quietly she snuck over to the elevator. "Bottom floor please JARVIS." She whispered quietly as the doors closed.

* * *

Anna looked around the subway car she was in. It was pretty empty, only a married couple and a dirty looking blonde guy.

The subway stopped and a few more people boarded, all of which looked shocked at the young girl wearing an oxygen mask with forearm crutches lying across her lap. An older 'grandma-looking' woman sat down beside Anna.

"Hello. Is that your mommy and daddy over there?" The woman asked smiling sweetly. She pointed towards the married couple across the car. Anna shook her head. "Are you all alone?"

"Yep. But I can take care of myself." Anna said proudly.

"Oh I'm sure you can." The old woman nodded. "My name is Margaret."

"I'm Anna. My daddy knows a lady named Margaret. He called her Peggy and he loved her a lot. But she's old now." Margaret nodded, still smiling.

"Well, she sounds very nice." If Anna'd been a little older she would have figured out the old lady had no clue what she was talking about.

Margaret and Anna chatted until it was Anna's stop. "This is me I think." Anna said standing up.

"Sweetheart, are you sure you're going to be alright on your own?"

"Yep. Bye Margaret."

"Goodbye Anna." Anna walked off the subway and into the station.

* * *

"Woah woah woah. Little girl, you can't just walk in here." Anna frowned at the guard who kept her from entering the SHIELD base. She looked ahead at the large security gates and checks.

"Don't call me that. I'm _Anna _not 'little girl'."

"Well _Anna._" The guard knelt down to meet Anna's eye level "You can't go in there." Anna took a deep breath.

"I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff and Captain Steve Rogers' daughter. You know, the Avengers? I'm pretty secret to everybody outside of SHIELD and stuff but you can check their files. I exist. And I'm pretty sure they'd be pretty mad if they knew _you-_" She squinted to read the guard's nametag "-Agent Andrew Pond, kept me from going in." The guard's eyes widened and he waved Anna through security quickly. She smiled as she made her way through the gate. _'I can totally take care of myself.'_

* * *

Anna looked around the halls. Steve _had _to be somewhere in the building. She'd been to the base a few times with different Avengers, but never on her own.

SHIELD was much smaller than it had been before the 'Winter Soldier incident'. (She still didn't know what exactly what that meant, just that something big happened. Steve would explain it later.) It was made up of less than 50 agents now, all of whom Fury knew he could trust.

Anna knew basically all of the agents, so none of them were really surprised to see her. They all assumed one of the Avengers was nearby.

"Hi Anna, how's it going?" A woman asked her, Anna recognized her as Sharon Carter.

"Good, what about you?" Anna liked Sharon; she was always nice to her. But she still didn't understand why Steve called her neighbor though…

"I'm pretty good, thanks for asking. Are you here with your Mom, or your Dad today?"

"My… Mom." Anna quickly lied, in reality Natasha was on a mission to Chile for a few days.

"That's nice." Sharon nodded. "Where is sh-"

"Carter! Hill wants you in her office, stat!" A man yelled. Sharon stood quickly, her face was very professional.

"It was nice talking to you Anna, I'll see you later okay?" Sharon flashed Anna a quick smiled before hurrying to the elevator.

Anna nodded and continued her trek to find Steve. Sharon had come from a large black door, so she assumed maybe Steve would be there too.

'_Finger Print Identification.'_ A robotic voice reported once Anna got to the door. She sighed, backing away from the door she was an agent headed her way. She stepped out of the way, as the agent unlocked the door.

"You're Romanoff's daughter, right?"

"Umm… yeah."

"Fury really should program your fingertips too. Did you two get separated?"

"Yeah." Anna lied, trying to look as sad and lost as possible.

"Hey, it's alright. Here." The agent held the door open and let Anna slip inside before he did.

She wandered down the long hallway, seeing no sign of Steve. Just another dead end.

* * *

Anna'd been looking for Steve for about an hour and she was starting to feel really tired. She found herself in an empty hallway and sat down on a little chair propped against the wall. Her body ached from walking so much and she frowned at the little bruises on her forearms the crutches always left after walking too much.

"This is a restricted area, whoever you are-." Anna looked up to see a figure a little bit down the hall. The figure walked towards her and she stiffened. "Anna?" The figure stepped into the light and Anna relaxed, it was Nick Fury.

"I got lost." Anna murmured. Fury sighed and knelt down in front of the young girl.

"Who are you here with today?" He asked in a kind softer voice, the one he only used when talking to Anna.

"No one..." Anna'd learned there was no way she could lie to Nick Fury.

"You came here alone?" Anna nodded. "Does anyone _know_ you're here?"

"No." Fury sighed

"How about we get you something to eat and I can figure out where Steve is?" Anna nodded slowly as Fury helped her to her feet. Her arms hurt too much to use the crutches. "Do you want me to carry those for you?" Anna nodded again and they slowly started walking towards the elevator, Anna's legs were a bit shaky without her crutches but she was alright. After a few moments of walking she reached up and held the Director's hand, he smiled a little bit.

"Do you have any cookies?" She asked as they stepped into Fury's private elevator. He chuckled

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Steve tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator climbed up towards Director Fury's office. Pepper still hadn't come with the folder, so he was pretty much screwed. His phone buzzed with a text from Agent Hill.

"What?" Pepper had called him 4 times while he was in his last meeting. He didn't have time to call her back as the elevator doors opened. "Director Fury." He hurried into the room, putting his phone away. "I'm sorry I'm late…" He froze in place when he saw Anna, spinning herself in Director Fury's chair, holding a box of cookies.

"Hi Daddy." She said, eating another cookie. "I brought you your folder." Steve stood, frozen in place.

"Where's Pepper?"

"Presumably back at the tower." Steve turned to see Director Fury standing by the window holding a cookie. "You were right Anna, these are pretty good." He said, taking another bite. "Anna told me she came here all by herself, to give you your folder." Steve looked back at his daughter, dumbfounded.

"I told you I can take care of myself." She smiled, eating another cookie. Steve started between the Director and Anna, speechless. The girl leaned forward a bit in the Director's chair, holding out the box of cookies. "Want one?"

* * *

**Thanks again to ****Bluewolf0151 for your prompt! I had a lot of fun writing this one.**

**PLEASE leave me reviews and more prompts! I love to know what you guys think :)**


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